What's Up? w/ Kelli Connell

Artist Kelli Connell's exhibition Double Life is at moCa Cleveland through January 4, 2026. In this podcast, Connell talks about the technical and compassionate aspects behind the making of her work, the relationship built working with long-time Double Life model Kiba Jacobson, and the way that a project's meaning can evolve over a 20-year timeframe.

Episode Guest: Kelli Connell

Kelli Connell's work is in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, J Paul Getty Museum, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Museum of Fine Arts Houston, Dallas Museum of Art, and the Museum of Contemporary Photography, among others. Publications include Kelli Connell: Pictures for Charis (Aperture and Center for Creative Photography, March 2024), PhotoWork: Forty Photographers on Process and Practice (Aperture), Photo Art: The New World of Photography (Aperture), and the monograph Kelli Connell: Double Life (DECODE Books). Connell has received fellowships and residencies from The Guggenheim Foundation, MacDowell, PLAYA, Peaked Hill Trust, LATITUDE, Light Work and The Center for Creative Photography. Connell is a professor at Columbia College Chicago.

Episode Host: DJ Hellerman

DJ Hellerman is the Deputy Director & Senior Curator at moCa Cleveland. A Northeast Ohio native, Hellerman holds an M.A. in Art History from Case Western Reserve University and began his career at the Progressive Art Collection. Prior to his work at moCa, he held the positions of Chief Curator & Director of Curatorial Affairs at The Fabric Workshop and Museum in Philadelphia, PA, Curator at the SCAD Museum of Art in Savannah, Georgia, Curator of Arts & Programs at the Everson Museum in Syracuse, New York, and Chief Curator and Director of Exhibitions at Burlington City Arts in Burlington, Vermont.

 

This episode is hosted by DJ Hellerman. Produced by DJ Hellerman and Tom Poole. Edited by Tom Poole. Consulting Producer and Audio Engineering by Adam Zucarro.